Page 47 of Reacher
He nodded slowly, but he didn’t look convinced of our potential success, and why would he?
“Thing is, I can’t guarantee she won’t go for a train, or some other method of leaving town.”
I rubbed at my piercings, wanting some clarity of mind, so I could figure this shit out and get my woman back, for questioning… just for that, right?
“Uh… we can’t pull the money back from her, can we?”
Stitch frowned. “With whose skills? You know we’re fucked right now without Ice.”
I stared at my phone over on the kitchen counter.
“I can try to reach her, but the chances are that she’s gonna ghost me if I try, and I’d fucking deserve it, wouldn’t I?”
Stitch shrugged. “I can try. She doesn’t have my number, so won’t know it’s me, but then she also might avoid it in case it’s whoever she’s running from.”
“Tori might be our only option for getting more info then.”
My VP was looking shifty.
“What?”
He sighed, glancing out at the day dawning outside, a wary look on his face when he turned back to me.
“Well, there’s another option, brother, but it means opening cans of worms.”
He looked at me again, raising his eyebrows as he waited for me to grasp his meaning, and I groaned, finally catching on.
“Rossi.”
He nodded. “We already have a budding relationship, and some goodwill on their end. What’s that for, if not to help us in our time of need?”
Jesus. I stared at my coffee. Did we really want to start asking mafia bastards for favours? Where would it end? One favour becomes many, and the next thing we know, they own our asses.
“Is it worth getting caught up with them, brother?”
Stitch shoved his hair out of his eyes.
“Depends really, doesn’t it? Is it worth getting your old lady back? Or are you just gonna toss her aside like old news again, once you’re done with her?”
“What the fuck!”
He was glaring at me now.Like I was the fucking bad guy.
“You threw her out with nothing. No money, nowhere to fucking go, nothing… that was cold… colder than I ever thought you could be.”
“She lied to me.”
“And? That means she’s trash, and should be thrown into the gutter, without any opportunity to defend herself? You didn’t even throw her out yourself. I saw Nick before I came back uphere. You made that poor bastard throw her out, because you were a cowardly asshole, and couldn’t face her. I feel like I have no fucking idea who you are right now.”
Jesus. He was right. It was a fucking asshole move, and she deserved better. She deserved more.
“Fucking hell. You’re right. What the fuck was I thinking? Make the call, brother. We need to find her.”
Fourteen
Isatwaitingatthetrain station, having had more than an hour to wait for my chosen destination. I was aiming for the Midlands, so that I could go further up the country from there. If I headed into the North of England, I probably had a good chance of losing any connection with anyone back home, and I could start afresh. I could send money to the care centre from anywhere, and although she allowed me to pay for her care, she’d never agreed to me visiting her, so what the hell was I sticking around for?
I had switched on my phone when I sat down to wait for my train, but there were still no messages from Reacher, which felt like a final stab in the chest, so I switched it off again, and tucked it into my bag.
